Trends in automotive power semiconductor packaging

In the past the main focus for improvements in power electronic modules was on chip technology. Therefore, looking at the cross section structure of modern modules, only small improvements have been made in recent decades. The reason for this is that the design and joining technology satisfied the market requirements. Furthermore the power electronic market segment is smaller than the one for microelectronic devices. Therefore it had to use their existing production facilities, e.g. bond wire machines. In the future this will change because of the following reasons: 1) Power electronic performance depends by a high ratio on package technology 2) The automotive industry has high requirements regarding cost efficiency, reliability and compactness. Furthermore they have big lever for innovations to make a product fit this requirement. Power electronic devices are used in (hybrid) electric vehicles ((H)EVs). 3) Dies in future will require new package technologies, especially when a wide band gap (WBG) material like silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN) is used. Therefore there is a need for a paradigm shift in package technology to make use of a junction temperature above 200 degrees C possible while reliability and cost performance have increased. This article will give an overview of the current available technologies and present Fuji's new package solution ideas. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.